Mugabe Must Go! – War Veterans

Agitated war veterans have reiterated their call for President Robert Mugabe to leave office now, adding derisively yesterday that they would not "waste" their time quarrelling with Zanu-PF youths who have said that they are prepared to take up arms to defend the nonagenarian.

Speaking to the Daily News, the spokesperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), Douglas Mahiya, was emphatic that Mugabe - who turns a mature 93 next month - could not continue to lead the country.

*President Mugabe

He also took a swipe at Zanu-PF youth leader Kudzanai Chipanga who said earlier this week that party youths were ready to go to war against former freedom fighters and other supporters of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in defence of Mugabe - saying Chipanga had "no idea" about wars and their deadly consequences.

This comes as Zanu-PF secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo was also insisting yesterday at a press conference held at the party's headquarters in Harare that Mugabe would be the party's presidential candidate in next year's eagerly-anticipated national elections, as decided at the party's disputed 2014 congress.

"The youths do not know what taking up arms is all about. They only hear about it. Nobody in their right mind wants a war, especially those who were once involved in one. What the youths are saying is childish.

"What we are simply saying is that a 93-year-old may, naturally, not be fully capable of discharging their duties in the office of the president," the forthright Mahiya said.

However, Chombo was adamant that Mugabe could only be challenged internally at the party's 2019 elective congress.

"Some of you, including the press elect not to read," Chombo said, adding that the Zanu-PF congress was the only party event that was held to elect the person who would represent the former liberation movement in future elections.

"We are saying this so that newspapers do not create confusion where there is none. In 2014, we elected our president.

"We said then that all those who want to be president should raise their hands. Everyone rushed to lift the president's, saying ‘we want Mugabe, he is the one we want to be president of the party'.

"This was a mandate for five years. So, anyone who wants to come in now can only do so at the 2019 congress. Logically and mathematically, it's all very clear and straightforward . . . there is no shortcut. So what is bothering our reporters?" he said - bizarrely appearing to blame Zanu-PF's worsening tribal, factional and succession wars on the media.

Be Wary of Unbridled Ambitions – Mugabe Warns Party Leaders

Transcript President Robert Gabriel Mugabe's speech to the Central Committee at the ongoing 15th National People's Conference yesterday.

*President Robert Mugabe 

Cde Vice President and Second Secretary Emmerson Mnangagwa,

Cde Vice President and Second Secretary Phelekezela Mphoko,

The Secretary for Administration Cde Ignatius Chombo,

All Politburo members, and members of the Central Committee here present.

Ladies and gentlemen, Comrades and friends

May I welcome you all to the 15th National People's Conference's Central Committee meeting, which we are holding after our Politburo on Monday.

Comrades, as we meet today, all our departments have been hard at work mobilising people and other resources towards this year's annual people's conference.

We thank the party leadership in Matabeleland North for taking the lead and all the other provincial leaderships for co-operating closely with the host province. We all realise that the responsibility for ensuring an effective conference falls on all of us especially those of us in leadership at various levels of the party. Matabeleland North deserves all our support especially given the background on drought which has affected most of the country.

Cdes, we meet today as the Central Committee to review the party's performance in the year about to end, the year 2015. We are happy to note that there is ample evidence that the party is getting stronger and stronger by the day. What with the resounding victories that we have been scoring in all the recent by-elections. I want to say congratulations.

Those by-elections have been key to testing the strength of the party from the point of view of its membership, the efficacy of its organs, rules and mobilisation strategies and we can say for now, anyway, and I hope for the future also, for now we rule the roost and I hope we do so in the future.

We have gained foothold, nay embedded ourselves, in those areas hitherto perceived as the domain of the opposition. However, we should never allow complacency to set in. We must remain on our toes, remain on the road with meetings taking place in different parts of the country every week.

While credit for the good image and standing of the party is shared by all of us, allow me to single out the Women's League and the Commissariat for working tirelessly in mobilising and keeping the party alive. That is as it should be and should be all the time.